Morristown mayoral candidates clash on term limits, transparency

Morristown mayoral forum: Mayor Tim Dougherty and Democratic primary challenger Esperanza Porras-Field, bottom row, with Deborah McComber (top left) and moderator Marlene Sincaglia of the League of Women Voters, May 12, 2021. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin
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The police union has insinuated he is the unnamed “Individual No. 1” in a bribery probe that implicated his wife.

But Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty on Wednesday said he can’t be bought, stating he returned a redeveloper’s campaign donation this week under an updated pay-to-play ordinance he touted as New Jersey’s toughest.

And he is standing by his spouse.

“I am especially grateful to my wonderful wife Mary, who is a great source of encouragement,” Dougherty said, near the end of an hour-long Zoom candidates’ forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Morristown Area.

He and Esperanza Porras-Field, his challenger in the June 8 Democratic primary, fielded public questions posed by League moderator Marlene Sincaglia.

Porras-Field did not mention the state investigation. Not directly.

The sting brought indictments of four former elected officials, and a probationary sentence for Mary Dougherty for a campaign finance violation during a 2018 run for county office. An unnamed individual also allegedly took money from Morristown attorney Matt O’Donnell. Tim Dougherty has said it wasn’t him.

But Porras-Field painted the mayor as the poster boy for term limits.

Morristown mayoral forum: Mayor Tim Dougherty and Democratic primary challenger Esperanza Porras-Field, League of Women Voters, May 12, 2021. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin

She described his administration as an “unethical” den of secret contracts, pay-to-play developers, costly lawsuits and “bullying behavior to anyone with the slightest difference or opinion.”

Dougherty cited his record on taxes, affordable housing and parks as reasons he deserves a fourth term.

“Elections are term limits,” he said. “The bottom line is, the voters will cast their votes. It’s not a monopoly. I run based on my record.”

He pointed to five years of tax decreases, 156 units of affordable housing, an “Adopt a Business” pandemic program, and an evolving plan to earmark funds from the M Station office development to avert evictions as COVID moratoriums are lifted.

Dougherty also said he’s in talks with landlord David Brown about redeveloping Brown’s vacant storefronts near the historic Morristown Green.

“I think we’re going to be just fine coming out of this pandemic,” Dougherty said.

He attributed PBA opposition — digitized signs blasting him — to a contract standoff.

“They sat down, we had lunch. They offered support if I did X,Y,Z, and that wasn’t going to happen. They have to negotiate contracts with the business administrator, not the mayor,” Dougherty said. (The union’s leader says the problem is the mayor, not the contract.)

Regardless, the mayor expressed pride in the police bureau’s accreditation by an association of police chiefs, and praised annual reports by his public safety director, Michael Corcoran Jr.

Porras-Field called this an unnecessary position that reports directly to Dougherty.

“Mr. Corcoran does not report to me,” Dougherty said. “All workers report to the business administrator. Period.”

‘OPEN AND TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT’

Porras-Field is a realtor with two grown daughters. The Colombian immigrant aspires to be the first Hispanic and the first woman to serve as Morristown mayor.

She said the Morris County Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce, an organization she founded, fed 2,500 Latino families for months during the pandemic. “The town didn’t take care of them,” she charged.

Porras-Field also chided Dougherty for showing up late to meet the First Lady of the Dominican Republic. “That was embarrassing,” Porras-Field said.

Borrowing a slogan from the mayor, she pledged “open and transparent government.”

Local businesses now encounter too much red tape from town hall; residents get stonewalled when seeking information under the Open Public Records Act, she said.

“Everything is a big secret. People cannot get the OPRA requests,” Porras-Field said.

“The transparency is there,” Dougherty said, asserting budgets are posted on the town website. “OPRA is a way you bog down government.”

Morristown mayoral forum: Mayor Tim Dougherty and Democratic primary challenger Esperanza Porras-Field, bottom row, with Deborah McComber (top left) and moderator Marlene Sincaglia of the League of Women Voters, May 12, 2021. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin

Porras-Field promised to share her mobile number with residents — during business hours — and to invite residents to volunteer from day one, if she’s elected.

But she was unable to articulate a vision for Speedwell Avenue, home to many Spanish-speaking families, or for the vacant storefronts on North Park Place.

When she complained that Morristown residents aren’t getting priority for affordable apartments, Dougherty explained that legally, units must be advertised to residents of three counties.

PAYMENTS, PILOTS AND PARKS

Neither candidate proposed any traffic solutions. Another question from the public demanded why the town has paid $5.5 million to its planner and redevelopment attorneys over the last few years. Dougherty could not verify the figure, but said nearly all the money is from developers’ escrow fees, not from taxpayers.

Responding to another submission, the mayor defended PILOTs–“payments in lieu of taxes”–that allow redevelopers to skip paying school taxes. Sometimes such incentives are needed for development of blighted properties, he said.

“It doesn’t hurt the school. The school gets its money,” insisted the 62-year-old Dougherty, who works at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Morristown can learn from neighboring Morris Township, which held a special session to educate residents about a PILOT agreement for the Abbey restoration project, he said.

Both candidates responded favorably to a suggestion that replays of town planning- and zoning board meetings be posted online, just like town council meetings.

Porras-Field also advocated for dog parks. Dougherty recited a list of people parks created on his watch, from Grow It Green’s Community Garden to the expansion of Foote’s Pond Wood.

If he wins next month’s primary, Dougherty will run in the general election with an at-large council ticket of incumbents Toshiba Foster and David Silva and newcomer Nathan Umbriac.  Porras-Field does not have a council slate.

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1 COMMENT

  1. *On the property taxes ,the incumbent mayor says he did not raise taxes. But he fails to tell us the real data and what is going on.
    Factually , over the past few years the State of NJ put a cap on any property tax increases that a town tried to make on homeowners.
    Also under his watch as an elected town councilman and later mayor ,(16 years) property taxes were raised at double rates rates in many town budgets. Compare Morristown taxes to Morristownship and Morris Plains , Morristown is much higher. So he was not able to raise them again recently even if he wanted to.
    Also the Town of Morristown was burdened with a $150,000,000 million dollar debt service that he voted for Increases tied to that as an elected official. All on his watch. The debt caused one third of the towns incoming revenues to be paid into debt service for 16 years. The town also kept kept raising taxes! Who knew?
    He also does not tell us where the $11-$ 15 $ million dollars he got from Atlantic Health went from the decades long lawsuit that another administration started. Where is that money? How much are they being taxed on now? We are never told.
    He also has given 10 year tax breaks to new builders in town. In a prime location like the County seat of Morristown that was not needed. Developers are tripping over each other to build here. Why the sweetheart deals? Only he knows.
    It would be nice to know who directs him or who advises him on Town finances.
    It would solve a Real mystery if anybody could explain how he stayed in office so long? The challenger has never voted on tax increase or raised property taxes….. he has! That is the record .
    As the great former NFL coach Bill Parcells used to say .. “ you are who your record says you are.”
    In this case it’s millions of dollars of lawsuits , new play to play laws having to be initiated due to behaviors of the administration, poor communications with the town police Dept, favored lawyers and consultants working for the town administration making unknown numbers of $100,000’s of $1000’s of dollars , builders not required to make sidewalk and road repairs where they build, and many other unanswered questions by the administration. If you ask for Facts , data or information ,you get stonewalled you are told to go to the the town web site. Many hope this will all change soon.

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